Cuban spy deported from US after hiding government ties to gain residency

A Cuban-Guatemalan man was deported after concealing his role as a Cuban intelligence asset to fraudulently obtain US permanent residency.

Cuban intelligence asset expelled from US after immigration fraud uncovered

The Jamaica Observer reports that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported a Cuban man who fraudulently obtained lawful permanent resident status by concealing his ties to the Cuban government.

Fernando Armando Valdes Perez, 61, of Kendall, Florida — also a Guatemalan citizen — was arrested at Miami International Airport on July 10 during a joint enforcement operation involving ICE, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

"Investigators determined Valdes was a Cuban intelligence asset tasked with infiltrating and reporting on Cuban exile and dissident communities in Latin America and the United States as early as the mid-1990s," ICE said.

The agency further alleged that Valdes cultivated the trust of the late anti-Castro dissident Luis Posada Carriles and maintained close ties to other prominent Cuban and Cuban-American figures in South Florida up until his arrest.

According to ICE, Valdes knowingly withheld his affiliation with the Cuban government when he applied for and was granted permanent resident status, deliberately deceiving immigration authorities in the process.

Matthew Elliston, director of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations Miami Field Office, said individuals who conceal links to foreign intelligence services and exploit the immigration system "pose a serious threat to the integrity of that system and to our national security."

"ICE will continue working with our federal partners to identify, arrest and remove those who obtain immigration benefits through fraud," Elliston added.

Valdes was placed in removal proceedings following his July arrest and has since been deported from the United States.

Source: Jamaica Observer